# Why don't phones adjust their volume based on ambient noise levels? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 30, 2014, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-phones-adjust-their-volume-based-on-ambient-noise-levels/700012 "2014-09-30T21:10:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2014, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-phones-adjust-their-volume-based-on-ambient-noise-levels/700012/1 "2014-09-30T21:10:01Z")
Setting the ringer/notification volume on phones is a pain. A mid-level setting is too quiet to hear in a crowded area, but is obnoxiously loud in a quiet room. Why isn’t it a standard feature of phones to automatically adjust the volume based on the background noise? Most phones already adjust the display brightness based on ambient light. Phones already have a microphone. What’s the problem? I’m putting this in GQ because it’s such an obvious feature, there must be a factual reason why it isn’t standard. ---
**Author:** ![Lanzy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/74df32/32.png) [@Lanzy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lanzy)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2014, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-phones-adjust-their-volume-based-on-ambient-noise-levels/700012/2 "2014-09-30T21:30:17Z")
uh,…? Mine does. ---
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2014, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-phones-adjust-their-volume-based-on-ambient-noise-levels/700012/3 "2014-09-30T22:51:40Z")
What kind of phone? ---
**Author:** ![Alley\_Dweller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alley_dweller/32/430_2.png) [@Alley\_Dweller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alley_Dweller)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2014, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-phones-adjust-their-volume-based-on-ambient-noise-levels/700012/4 "2014-10-01T02:20:18Z")
All that I can think of is… I keep my phone in my pocket. It must be real quiet in there. I already have a hard enough time hearing it ring. If the phone muted its ringer even more, I would never hear it. ---
**Author:** ![Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a88e4f/32.png) [@Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Digital_is_the_new_Analog)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2014, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-phones-adjust-their-volume-based-on-ambient-noise-levels/700012/5 "2014-10-01T02:53:24Z")
I don’t recall ever working on such a feature. Then again, I only played audio engineer for one phone. I’m probably going to see one of my old testers tomorrow - I’ll try to remember to ask for an opinion. ---
**Author:** ![GusNSpot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gusnspot/32/436_2.png) [@GusNSpot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GusNSpot)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2014, 6:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-phones-adjust-their-volume-based-on-ambient-noise-levels/700012/6 "2014-10-01T06:04:24Z")
So, I an old. You don’t want me to be able to set the volume where I need it? Different types of noise affect my ability to hear certain frequencies, ( I am old ) My ears are getting tired. Why make the phone use a computer program to figure this out every time your phone rings? And if that feature blue screens while the phone is on a very low setting??? Why can’t I have a computer that does what I want instead of these darn things that do what you tell them to do??? ---
**Author:** ![Cyros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a698b9/32.png) [@Cyros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cyros)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2014, 10:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-phones-adjust-their-volume-based-on-ambient-noise-levels/700012/7 "2014-10-01T10:34:13Z")
I use Tasker to set up different profiles and can adjust things like ringer volume based on different factors. I have the phone set to go silent when I am in the movie theatre I normally go to and to go vibrate at work. When I am at home I have it set to 1/3 volume and all other times it is at full volume for the ringer and notifications. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2014, 10:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-phones-adjust-their-volume-based-on-ambient-noise-levels/700012/8 "2014-10-01T10:56:37Z")
> [@GusNSpot](#): > > So, I an old. You don’t want me to be able to set the volume where I need it? > > Different types of noise affect my ability to hear certain frequencies, ( I am old ) My ears are getting tired. > > Why make the phone use a computer program to figure this out every time your phone rings? And if that feature blue screens while the phone is on a very low setting??? > > Why can’t I have a computer that does what I want instead of these darn things that do what you tell them to do??? It should be easy enough to do both - just give people a checkbox to enable the adaptive feature (or for the grumpy old folks to turn it off). ---
**Author:** ![MikeS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MikeS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeS)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2014, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-phones-adjust-their-volume-based-on-ambient-noise-levels/700012/9 "2014-10-01T12:20:26Z")
> [@Alley\_Dweller](#): > > I keep my phone in my pocket. It must be real quiet in there. I already have a hard enough time hearing it ring. If the phone muted its ringer even more, I would never hear it. This is exactly what I thought. How is the phone supposed to tell the difference between “buried in a pocket or bag, with ambient sounds muffled” and “sitting on a table in a quiet room”? In one case you’d want the ringer to be quite loud, and in the second it’d need to be rather soft. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2014, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-phones-adjust-their-volume-based-on-ambient-noise-levels/700012/10 "2014-10-01T12:28:40Z")
> [@MikeS](#): > > This is exactly what I thought. How is the phone supposed to tell the difference between “buried in a pocket or bag, with ambient sounds muffled” and “sitting on a table in a quiet room”? In one case you’d want the ringer to be quite loud, and in the second it’d need to be rather soft. ‘In pocket detection’ already exists - it uses a combination of sensors, including (I think): Motion: If the phone is absolutely still, it might be on a table Light: if it’s dark, the phone might be in a pocket Proximity: If there’s something pressed against a lot of the screen, it might be in a pocket By combining those factors, it’s possible to make a more accurate guess - of course, if it’s face down on top of a cloth bag in a moving vehicle, the phone may not be able to distinguish this from being in a pocket. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2014, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-phones-adjust-their-volume-based-on-ambient-noise-levels/700012/11 "2014-10-01T12:46:35Z")
> [@](#): > > Ring ring ring ring ring ring ring banana phone > Ring ring ring ring ring ring ring banana phone Wait, I gotta take this. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2014, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-phones-adjust-their-volume-based-on-ambient-noise-levels/700012/12 "2014-10-01T12:50:19Z")
I had that as my ringtone for a while (the speeded-up version from [rathergood.com](http://rathergood.com)) After that, I had the ‘RingRing… Hello?’ sequence from Charlie the Unicorn. Then I realised people weren’t taking me very seriously at work.